Air Products and Huntsman sign long-term agreement

Air Products and Huntsman have signed a long-term agreement for Air Products to build, own and operate a new steam methane reformer (SMR) and cold box in Geismar, Louisiana.

The Air Products facilities, targeted to be on-stream in January of 2020, will supply hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO) and steam to Huntsman Corporations’ Geismar operations. Huntsman is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals.

The new facility, to be located on land leased from Huntsman, will produce approximately 6.5 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of CO, 50 MMSCFD of H2, and up to 50,000 pounds per hour of steam. There is also the ability for the facility to be expanded to increase CO in the future to support additional growth.

Marie Ffolkes, President, Industrial Gases Americas at Air Products, said, “We have a long relationship with Huntsman with other operations, so our track record of reliability and customer service were a big asset in being awarded this supply contract. We are pleased to expand this relationship with the new plant at Geismar. The new facility supporting Huntsman will be state-of-the-art in terms of high reliability and sustainability, with enhanced energy efficiency and reduced emissions.”

Tony Hankins, President of Huntsman Polyurethanes said, “Geismar is one of our three world-scale MDI production facilities, which primarily serves North and South America. This investment will help underpin our global growth strategy, which involves strengthening our upstream assets, while at the same time rapidly building our downstream footprint and capabilities. We look forward to the technology and reliability that Air Products will bring to our Geismar facility.”

Beyond supply to Huntsman’s production facility in Geismar. Air Products’ new plant will also be connected to its Gulf Coast H2 pipeline and network system (GCP). Dedicated in 2012, the 600-mile pipeline span Is the world’s largest H2 plant and pipeline network system. The GCP stretches from the Houston Ship Channel in Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana, and supplies customers with over 1.4 billion feet of H2 per day from over 22 H2 production facilities.

gasworld Senior Business Anaylst, James Barr, commented, ”Air Products was the second largest company by revenue in the South East region of the US in 2016, holding a market share of approximately 18%. Total onsite and pipeline H2 sales were estimated at over $800m.”

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